paucitas Latin · revision 31478

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=ine-pro *peh₂u-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈpau̯.kɪ.taːs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈpaːu̯.t͡ʃi.tas]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''paucitās''' ''f'' (genitive paucitātis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|paucus|-tās]], from the adjective “few”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)^(Lewis & Short 1879) De Vaan derives ⟨paucus⟩ from [[itc-pro|*pauko-|t=few]] and [[ine-pro|*peh₂u-]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Cicero,^(Köbler 2010) who writes from his province that there is a remarkable scarcity of panthers.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is fewness or scarcity of number, as Cicero's paucity of orators and of friends and Caesar's lack of harbours, and in rhetoric the economy of a division with few heads.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Concretely it is a small number or handful of people, as Livy's handful helped by the ground.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “fewness, scarcity, paucity”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of a scarcity of panthers and of orators.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar of a lack of harbours.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a small band.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Fewness, [[m|en|scarcity]], [[m|en|paucity]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A small number, handful.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[paucus]]

+ * [[paulus]]

+ * [[parvus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}